The sweet corn guy
If you had one and half days in Bangkok what would you do to make the most of that time?
* I hope you have several minutes to flick through this rather long post full of photos*
I haven’t been to Bangkok in a long time and it has changed a lot, and so have I!. I arrived early on Saturday morning after flying 16 hours with 1 stopover. I was tired but nothing could keep me from hitting the streets before I collapsed. I suggest first check into a fabulous hotel, one night deserves the best. Then, hit the ground running with a Food Tour. I went on a walking tour called “Historic Bangrak Food & Culture Tour” with www.bangkokfoodtours.com Although they ask you to book ahead (best) I was unsure if my plane would be delayed, so I just turned up and was lucky my tour wasn’t booked out. There are a few choices but which ever you decide on it’s a great way to fast track seeing and learning as much as you can in a short time.
The new Bangkok
The tour is an easy walk stopping at up to 5 restaurants, revealing places nearby that you probably would not find yourself. As a bonus the guides buy samples of street food along the way, depending what is available on the day.
We met at a Saphan Taksin sky train station in Bangrak at 9.45 am. Luchi, our cute guide was there to meet “us,” and I say us because it is easy to find the meeting place, you will notice a group of hungry looking foreigners lurking at the modern, organised train station entrance. Hard to miss. (7 of us total today. The tours take up to 14 people hence the reason to pre-book) Warning! Don’t have breakfast……….
Thai style Roast
First stop traditional Roast Duck “Thai style” on rice with pickled vegetables. The duck at this restaurant is “free range” coming from a family farm. It is less fatty and greasy than your average Chinese Roast Duck and has a nice clean sweetish soy flavour and more meat on the bones. Luchi also gets the cook to slice up some “Thai bacon”. A trotter of pork boned, stuffed and marinated in ginger garlic and lemongrass then roasted like the duck.
Preparing Thai style roast duck
Thai bacon
Roast Thai style Duck
As we leave Grandfather is making wontons.
As we walk to our next stop we visit some fruit sellers and try “Salacca” originally from Indonesia.
salacca fruit
An Indian Muslim restaurant run by the same family for 70 years is next. Here we sample spicy curry noodle soup, that resembles Laksa with rice vermicelli, boiled egg and crispy eschallots
Cooking curry noodles
Curry noodles
Spicy curry noodles above. The window where you can select food from the set menu, part of this restaurants popularity
On our way to the next stop, PanLee Bakery, (who have now clocked up 60 years in the bakery business), we try fish cakes and buy some sweet coconut corn waffles to eat. Luchi buys BBQ steamed coconut bananas (in banana leaves), for us to try later.
Coconut bananas in banana leaf
Masterchef
Don’t count on the coffee being “the usual”. Here it’s a charming combination of carnation evaporated and sweetened condensed milk frothed into a very unusual “capuccino”.
Pork bun
Pandan custard bun
Banana chips with chilli and lime leaves
After a Thai iced tea ( sweet) we walk for 10 minutes passing the Sweet Corn Guy. He’s happy to sell us an ear of corn each to chew on as we walk across a busy road under the free way fly over.
No Reservations
Special!!! We passed this restaurant while walking, we didn’t stop just in case we disturbed the dish washing
Kalaprapruek
Kalaprapruek
We’ve walked at least 1 skytrain station away from where we started. This beautiful green space is the grounds of several restaurants. We are heading to Kalaprapruek inside here. It is owned by the Kings son, and Dad does not understand why his son would want to work. However this is a special place. Its’ a cafe, restaurant and produce store and it’s very popular. As you walk in the door there is fresh and dry produce for sale. The vegetables for sale are all organic and proudly bare the Kings seal. The money raised goes back to the Princes’ project, teaching the unemployed to grow and farm organically.
The Kings seal
Food for sale
The branding
And then there’s the cafe……………………..
The cafe
We are ushered upstairs where there are some tables left and the sampling goes on. First a Roti that has been deep fried till crispy and served with a spicy incredibly flavourful green chicken curry
Fried roti with green curry
Crispy catfish salad
Almost finally, we all share a mixed dish. By this time a taste of each thing is quite enough. Som Tum (Green Papaya salad), Crispy catfish salad with green mango ( amazing), Bean shoot salad with chilli and Thai basil, Spicy shredded Goat and sticky rice follow by this red curry fish mousse steamed in banana leaf. We also ate the banana cooked in leaves we bought earlier and a choice of Coconut or Tamarind sorbet.
Unfortunately we got given the map and how to say all the Thai food words at the end of the tour. That aside the tour is amazing value packed full of information and fun at 1050 Thai baht ( approx $35 ). The tour ends here but Lushi will direct you back to the skytrain station or point you back in the right direction so you can practise your newly acquired street skills.
www.bangkokfoodtours.com
These are some of the interesting things I caught on the way back to my hotel (the FABULOUS one). This is Morning Glory, a green vegetable used in a lot of dishes. It makes great street food in an omelette.
Morning Glory and eggs
Sunday market sights.
??? I know!!
And my Hotel? The Lebua State Tower
1055 Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok, Thailand, 10500 Show Map
www.lebua.com/state-tower. Crazy luxury for $140 a night and the home of the sky bar on the 62nd floor with the highest alfresco out door restaurant in the world.
This is not a sponsored post.
Just wanted to add a picture sent in by one of my readers . She made my chocolate cookies for her sons playgroup. Cute. Thanks Amber
We used to called the salacca as salak in indonesia,
well known as snake skin fruit…..
Thanks Dedy. What a great name for this fruit
Oh all the food looks amazing! I would love to be taking food excursions with you! I would eat my own body weight in some of these delicious foods.
Thanks for taking us on this lovely food tour. I have only been to Bangkok briefly but fully intend going back to do a tour like this. I must remember – no breakfast!
Paella?? I couldn’t choose between the fried roti and the Thai roast duck or the crispy catfish salad and som tum. It all looks so mouthwatering. What a fabulous day you had, T!!
Only one night and you managed to capture it all, Tania. Bravo!
Lots of exotic food! I want to visit Thailand too!
One day would simply be too short for a visit to Bangkok, but I would want to do what you did. Look at all that scrumptious food! Surprised to see the giant pan of paella, but it does look yummy. I love the photos and hope to visit one day soon.
Oh my! You have left me breathless! Like ‘Victoria of the Flavors’ I have not had the chance to visit Bangkok awhile and this post is SO moreish in more ways than one! Used to stay in the [now] very old Erewan [probably way gone] and the Oriental on the river like Vicki! Thought the markets were the very bestest I had ever seen anywhere in the world. Did not know what ‘hot’ meant until I had been to a few ‘real’ Thai restaurants . . . loved the plethora of flowers one was always given as bracelets and necklets . . . Jim Thompson’s Thai silks were still so sought after . . . OK [ being honest] the Temple of Dawn could still be climbed and I got almost all the way up and then just could not get down . . . don’t ask!! Beautiful post I just have to share!!!!!!
Such a great post, Tania! I was lucky enough to spend a week in Bangkok about a dozen years ago. Your post and beautiful photos brought back some wonderful memories. Thank you.
I’m quite sure you couldn’t have crammed in anything else in your one-night stopover. What a great tour. Fascinating. I love the duck dish and how it’s free-range. And how good of the Prince to be doing something useful with his life. You were very wise to skip breakfast! xx
Great photos!
I am so jealous Tania! What amazing photos- including random bunnies and paella guy 🙂 What a fantastic idea to go on the food tour, so much to see, and do, and EAT! Glad you had a good time x
What a great post, I am salivating and cannot wait for my next trip to Bangkok to do this tour!
Thanks, Tania
What a delightful post. I love seeing the photos as it has been a while since I travelled there. I did treat myself once to a couple of nights at The Oriental–and it was worth it thought it made it hard to downgrade 😉 If I had just one day–I’d head for some of the best street food in the world and stuff myself silly!